Join us on Saturday for the Hermann Park Holiday Party! This free event includes arts, crafts and face painting! Reserve your FREE spot and win 4 tickets to ride the Hermann Park train!

Train rides are $3.25 per person… but since it’s the second Saturday of the month, Hermann Park Conservancy members ride the train for free! Not a member? You will be able to sign up during the event and start enjoying your membership benefits immediately.

Many Houston families have a membership to the Houston Zoo, and maybe to the Children’s Museum or Museum of Natural Science… Why not get a membership to Hermann Park and ride the train all year long?

A family membership is $50 and pays for itself in less than 2 months. Membership includes:

4 Free Train Tickets ($13.00 Value)

1 Pedal Boat Ticket ($10 Value)

Free Monthly Train Rides ($156 for a family of 4. Bigger savings for bigger families!)

This is a value of $179 and it doesn’t even capture the value of being able to skip to the front of the line and select the seats you want! You get to ride for free once a month, and have this fast pass every singe busy day, including summer, holidays and weekends!

Our new favorite thing to do in Houston is super easy, super fun and super free… For a change to the weekly park review, let me show you the ducks at Hermann Park‘s McGovern Lake (instead of writing about them)! Take a look!

Oh, oh, oh, this new park at Hermann Park is picture perfect. The McGovern Centennial Gardens is located right next to the Houston Museum of Natural Science and the Hermann Park Golf Course… right across from Miller Outdoor Theatre.

Enter on either end of the garden, at the museum parking lot or the new Hermann Park lot. (The new lot can now be accessed from Hermann Drive.)

This 15 acre garden was renovated to celebrate Hermann Park’s 100 year birthday in 2014. There is a rose garden, family garden, 30 foot mound… with a sidewalk that circles up to the top, sculptures, gazebo, lounge chairs and restrooms.

And it is beautiful. I mean wedding-reception beautiful. (And no, I don’t know if that is an option… but I have 20 years to figure it out.)

The park is open to the public and free. Stop by between 9:00 and 5:00 daily to wonder through. My kids recommend running around and around to the top of the tall hill. The coolest part is that a waterfall runs down from the top and you get to cross it several times.

Their second favorite thing was the Chinese gazebo where you can pretend to be Master Shifu from Kung Fu Panda (or whatever you decide to do in the fancy seating area).

Next time we visit we’ll bring a picnic and eat at one of the many tables or benches…. and check out the family garden…. and run to the top of the mound… and play more Kung Fu Panda… and…

On the second Saturday of each month, we march past all the antsy kids waiting for the Hermann Park train, show our membership card and ride for free. We get to select our seats first and I never have to hear, “But we waaaaaanted THAT seat on the train.”, because we’ve already got it.

Many Houston families have a membership to the Houston Zoo, and maybe to the Children’s Museum or Museum of Natural Science… Why not get a membership to Hermann Park and ride the train all year long?

A family membership is $50 and pays for itself in less than 2 months. Membership includes:

4 Free Train Tickets ($13.00 Value)

1 Pedal Boat Ticket ($10 Value)

Free Monthly Train Rides ($156 for a family of 4. Bigger savings for bigger families!)

This is a value of $179 and it doesn’t even capture the value of being able to skip to the front of the line and select the seats you want! You get to ride for free once a month, and have this fast pass every singe busy day, including summer, holidays and weekends!

I receive no compensation for promoting the memberships, but as you can tell, I’m quite passionate about it.

If you purchase a family membership to Hermann Park, I’ll give you a special gift. At the August 6 Hermann Park Celebration, BigKidSmallCity will give your kids a conductors hat and bandanna to wear around the party and take home! Either purchase the membership online (and come find me at the event) or purchase it there. (Picture is below!)

Grab your little engineers and come celebrate George Hermann’s 171st birthday with $1.71 train rides for kids, $1.71 ice cream for everyone, free birthday cake and lots of fun! The party will be on Wednesday, August 6, 2014 from 10:00am to 2:00pm at the Hermann Park Kinder Train Station.

Reserve your spot by filling out the form below and be entered to win a Hermann Park Family Fun Pack, worth over $50! It includes 4 train tickets, 1 pedal boat ticket (good for 4 people) and $25 to Pinewood Cafe in Hermann Park!

Here is what you need to know:

The Birthday Party will include free face painting and crafts at the Hermann Park Train Station, from 10:00-2:00pm.

Kids can get $1.71 train tickets all day. (Adults are still $3.25.)

Everyone can get $1.71 Soft Serve Ice Cream, all day long.

Free Birthday Cake is available while supplies last.

BigKidSmallCity will have a table at the party. Come see me!

Fill out the form below to win train tickets, a pedal boat ticket and gift card to Pinewood Cafe! The winner can pick them up at the party!

Hermann Park is right in the middle of the Museum District and it would be easy to spend an entire day here. If you included the museums within walking distance of the park, it would be easy to spend an entire week here.

Parking is free at the park, but on days when there are events or if there is especially beautiful weather, it’s best to arrive first thing in the morning or to take METRORail. There is a Hermann Park Station that drops you off near the reflecting pool.

Inside Hermann Park, in the Museum District, is a Japanese Garden. Fenced off from the rest of the park, the Japanese Garden is a little retreat within the bustling city. It has waterfalls, bridges, paths and benches between crepe myrtles, azaleas, Japanese maples, dogwoods and cherry trees.

The Japanese Garden is located in the middle of the park, near the reflection pool. Parking is free in any of the Hermann Park lots. The METRORail Hermann Park Station is just a short walk from the park entrance.

I had thought there was a small entrance fee, but it appears that this is gone and the gates are wide open for anyone who wants to visit from 9:00am to 5:00pm. Among the 30 or so people inside the Japanese Garden on a winter break afternoon was the BigKidSmallCity crew.

We wondered around the paths, looked at the waterfalls and sat on the benches. There are several bridges but the kids quickly found a tiny bridge, in the middle of a tiny stone path, that they played on for an hour.

The garden paths are on a very small scale and perfect for little explorers. I sat on the nearby bench, with a sleeping baby, while Joe and Brooke walked over the bridge, sat on the bridge, sang songs on the bridge and declared themselves king and queen of the bridge. They wandered up and down the connecting path and had a thoroughly good time.

I was happy to learn that I was just too big for their bridge and it would be much too dangerous for me. So, I sat in the shade and enjoyed the show.

This little garden is a very relaxing little spot in the middle of the city. If you look up, you can see the medical center and the Hotel Zaza. If you look down, you think you’re in a secluded Japanese Garden.

We suggest you go check it out, and try to find our favorite kid sized bridge!

I know you’ve heard of having a zoo or museum membership, but did you know you could be a member of the Hermann Park Conservancy?

Have you ever waited and waited in that Kinder Station line or have you had take the kids the long way around the park so they did not insist on train tickets at $3 a pop?

If you get an annual membership, starting at just $50, you get access to the Member Express Line to board the Train at Kinder Station, complimentary unlimited train rides from 9-10am on Second Saturdays free train and pedal boat tickets to use during regular operating hours. I think the unlimited, free, members only, monthly train rides sounds awesome. Now, when we walk out of the zoo and the kids beg for $12 in train tickets, I can remind them of the monthly rides.

Go HERE to learn more. From the Hermann Park Conservancy website, here are the membership levels. This would make a great gift!

$50 Bronze
Four (4) complimentary Hermann Park Train tickets
One (1) complimentary pedal boat ride (for up to four people)
10% off a private Hermann Park Train rental
$15 discount on the Engineer for a Day program

$100 Silver
Six (6) complimentary Hermann Park Train tickets
Two (2) complimentary pedal boat rides (for up to four people)
10% off a private Hermann Park Train rental
$15 discount on the Engineer for a Day program
Name listed in newsletter and annual report

$250 Gold
Ten (10) complimentary Hermann Park Train tickets
Three (3) complimentary pedal boat rides (for up to four people)
10% off a private Hermann Park Train rental
$15 discount on the Engineer for a Day program
Name listed in newsletter and annual report

$500 Platinum
Sixteen (16) complimentary Hermann Park Train tickets
Four (4) complimentary pedal boat rides (for up to four people)
10% off a private Hermann Park Train rental
$15 discount on the Engineer for a Day program
Name listed in newsletter and annual report

$2,500 Conductor’s Circle
Hermann Park Railroad Annual Pass good for unlimited rides for one + a guest
Hermann Park Pedal Boat Annual Pass good for unlimited rides for one + up to three guests
20% off a private Hermann Park Train rental
$30 discount on the Engineer for a Day program
Name listed in newsletter and annual report

Members at all levels receive…
Access to Member Express Line to board the Train at Kinder Station
Complimentary unlimited Train rides from 9-10am on Second Saturdays
10% off merchandise in the Conservancy Gift Shop
Subscription to Parkside newsletter
Invitations to special events
Window sticker
Membership ID card

From the Hermann Park website: Special gift tickets to ride the train and pedal boats in Hermann Park are now available. They make great gifts for children of all ages! Ticket packs can be mailed directly to you so you may distribute them as you wish or to a gift recipient along with a greeting card.

Each train ticket is redeemable for one free ride on the Hermann Park Railroad. Each pedal boat ticket is redeemable for a free 30-minute ride on McGovern Lake, for up to 4 riders per boat (at least one person must be over 18 years of age).